It can be intimidating going up against players who have a history with SCOOP wins, as well as a proven Team PokerStars Pro. But meneerbeer stayed focused and persevered despite the odds. Even during heads-up and facing aDrENalin710, who just won a SCOOP two days prior and clearly had momentum, meneerbeer took control. That was a winning formula, and meneerbeer now has a SCOOP title, too.

*****

Some judge the best tournament poker players in the world solely on their performances in No Limit Hold'em. But in today's world of multiple poker variations, the 8-Game mix has become the new standard for judging all-around poker skills. The abilities required to best a tournament filled with Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold'em, Limit Omaha H/L, Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud H/L, No Limit Hold'em, and Pot Limit Omaha are many, and it takes years to become skilled in all of those games.

Event 33 was set up to find those players. The medium level buy-in of $215 gave players the chance to prove themselves in all eight games. With 120 minutes of late registration and a $50K guarantee for extra motivation, a sizeable crowd gathered for the 8-Game festivities.

The money bubble burst more than a few hours into the action, leaving 78 players remaining, including several members of Team PokerStars. Team Online's George "Jorj95" Lind was the first to exit in the money in 73rd place, and Team Pro David Williams wasn't far behind with a 67th place elimination. But continuing on to the last few tables was Team Pro Jose "nachobarbero" Barbero, riding high on the top half of the leaderboard.

About 20 minutes past the eight-hour mark, only two tables remained. Players like Bryn Kenney and Fabrice Soulier exited as the final table neared, CMoosepower exited in eighth place to start hand-for-hand play. FatmanScoops then got involved with meneerbeer on a 9♠K♠8♥J♣ board. Betting was capped, and FatmanScoops was all-in with Q♠Q♦. But meneerbeer showed K♦9♣, which held up to the 5♥ on the river and eliminated FatmanScoops in seventh place with $2,482.92.

A final table lead for Amke

The final table began in a Limit Hold'em round, with blinds of 12K/24K and these players' starting stacks:

After the first 30 minutes of play, aDrENalin710 was the new chip leader, followed by meneerbeer and Make, while milanissimo8 fell to the lower half of the leaderboard.

Kaivari, on the other hand, only seemed to lose ground. In a 7-Card Stud round, aDrENalin710 raised, kaivari reraised, and aDrENalin710 called on third street. All of kaivari's chips went in on fifth street, and the final hand showed K♣K♦J♦8♥4♦3♠4♠. But aDrENalin710 had a flush with 7♥4♥7♦J♣K♥5♥6♥, and that eliminated kaivari in sixth place with $3,694.68.

Milanissimo8 was low in chips but did double through aDrENalin710 to stay in action, and nachobarbero did the same through amke.

A big hand then developed in Stud H/L. It started with a raise from meneerbeer with 8♣, all-in reraised from milanissimo8 with K♠, and call from nachoberbero with 7♦ and meneerbeer. Fourth street brought a bet from meneerbeer with 7♣ and check-call from nachoberbero with 9♠, and they both checked on fifth street with 7♠ for meneerbeer and 9♦ for nachobarbero. Ultimately, meneerbeer showed 6♠4♦8♣7♣7♠8♥7♥, and nachobarbero turned over 3♥5♣7♦9♠9♦6♥A♣. They split the side and main pots, while milanissimo8 simply mucked and departed in fifth place with $5,940.00.

Nachobarbero was short and doubled through amke again, but a few rounds later, nachobarbero was involved again. The NLHE hand started with a small blind raise from meneerbeer and big blind all-in reraise from nachobarbero with A♦Q♦. Meneerbeer called with 8♥8♣, and that pair only developed into two on the 9♠2♦4♥K♠2♥ board. Team PokerStars Pro Jose "nachobarbero" Barbero was eliminated in fourth place with $8,316.00.

Close counts for final three

The final three players remaining in the tournament went into play with these counts:

ADrENalin710 made big strides, eventually taking a 900K pot from meneerbeer to soar into the lead and over 1.5 million chips. But it was Amke who lost a string of hands that put him below the 150K mark. In Triple Draw, Amke made the all-in move against aDrENalin710 on the first draw when both players took two cards. Amke took one card on the second craw, but aDrENalin710 took two, but the latter ended up with 7♦3♠T♦5♠2♣. Amke, a two-time SCOOP winner, had 4♥7♥A♦8♠2♦ and departed in third place with $12,177.00.

They almost immediately agreed to a chop of the prize money with the obligatory extra $1,000 set aside for the winner. And then meneerbeer went on a rampage throughout the remainder of the Triple Draw round, taking the lead and extending it during Limit Hold'em. Hand after hand, meneerbeer took sizeable pots and never lost momentum.

The final hand started with aDrENalin710 down to less than 20K chips, and those went in with the big blind holding 5♣2♣. Meneerbeer was along for the ride with J♠7♦, and made two pair on the 4♣Q♥T♥7♥4♥ board. After winning a SCOOP title just two days prior in Triple Draw 2-7, aDrENalin710 had to settle for second place in this one for $19,977.93.